Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History... or "An insight into personal family history research"2015-01-20T13:22:12Zhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/feed/atom/WordPressSteve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=11002015-01-20T13:22:12Z2015-01-20T13:22:12ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: A fitting memorial.
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I recently visited Dad’s grave, which now has the headstone mounted, following the appropriate ‘settling time’. It is a wonderful black granite stone, with gold lettering, a tractor motif and a cameo photo. It was chosen by all three of us – Mum, my sister and myself. The motif was a standard on this design, […]

]]>The original post for this feed can be found here: A fitting memorial.
Please read the original in context.

I recently visited Dad’s grave, which now has the headstone mounted, following the appropriate ‘settling time’. It is a wonderful black granite stone, with gold lettering, a tractor motif and a cameo photo. It was chosen by all three of us – Mum, my sister and myself.

The motif was a standard on this design, and felt very appropriate, given Dad’s farming heritage, and particularly the plough. This was a scene we often viewed when he was occupied nearby.

There were two standard flower pots, but a small addition has been installed, for the grandchildren.

]]>0Steve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=10872014-09-23T12:54:08Z2014-09-23T12:54:08ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: Jeremy Irons’ Kent smuggling ancestor.
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On Saturday I watched a rerun of the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? (UK) featuring Jeremy Irons. I do this sometimes, either because I’ve forgotten the celebrity’s story, I want to revisit the research methods, or sometimes because there’s nothing better to watch! This episode was fairly contemporary, with Jeremy wanting to […]

On Saturday I watched a rerun of the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? (UK) featuring Jeremy Irons. I do this sometimes, either because I’ve forgotten the celebrity’s story, I want to revisit the research methods, or sometimes because there’s nothing better to watch!

Jeremy Irons, actor

This episode was fairly contemporary, with Jeremy wanting to discover if his ‘coming home’ feeling of living in Ireland was due to any Irish ancestors. He also ‘liked the sea’.
Jeremy did eventually discover that his great-great grandfather, Henry Loftie RUTTON married Catherine McCREIGHT, whose family had lived in the north of Ireland since 1695. She was his Irish connection. They married on 24th August 1843. He also later discovered Catherine’s grandmother was born in County Cork, where Jeremy now lived.

However, this was not what sparked renewed interest in his story. When Jeremy discovered his great-great grandfather was Henry Loftie RUTTON, transcription records of his grave in Tullylish stated (at around 35 mins into the episode):

“Here lieth the body of Henry Loftie RUTTON, formerly of Ashford in the County of Kent, who died at Warrenpoint in this county, 9th September 1864 …”

Alarm bells rang… Kent… RUTTON…

During my research into William BALDOCK (1748-1812), businessman and smuggler, I had come across the name Dr. Isaac RUTTON.
Dr. RUTTON was a physician from Ashford in Kent, and the British History Online website states:

“Near the market place, is the house of the late Dr. Isaac RUTTON, a physician of long and extensive practice in these parts, being the eldest son of Matthias RUTTON, gent of this town, by Sarah his wife, daughter of Sir N. TOKE, of Godinton. He died in 1792…” (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63440)

Godinton appears to have been a seat of the TOKE family.

William BALDOCK of Petham, near Canterbury. Believed to be the same man who took over the reigns of The Seasalter Company from Dr. Isaac RUTTON.

]]>0Steve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=10592014-06-25T12:06:40Z2014-06-25T12:06:40ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: Ernest Joseph BALDOCK, 1929-2014.
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On 28th May 2014, my father Ernest Joseph BALDOCK passed away after long ill-health. It was unexpected, but he was victim to multiple conditions affecting each other at the end. His last days were in Kent and Canterbury Hospital, but he was in the presence of family – myself, my sister and my mother. Ernest […]

On 28th May 2014, my father Ernest Joseph BALDOCK passed away after long ill-health. It was unexpected, but he was victim to multiple conditions affecting each other at the end. His last days were in Kent and Canterbury Hospital, but he was in the presence of family – myself, my sister and my mother.

Ernest Joseph Baldock was born on 18 July 1929 at Marshside, near Chislet, to Ernie, a farm horse-waggoner, and Elsie. He used to walk across the road that became the Thanet Way with his mother, brother Geoff and sister Dorothy to Hilborough Infants School near Reculver. On the return one day, he spotted his father working the fields and ran to greet him. He was knocked down by a car which failed to stop. The German monocled farmer for whom his father worked shouted, “Get his number, waggoner, get his number!”

This was the first evidence of his cast-iron constitution.

Following his father’s moves from farm to farm, he attended Chislet Primary School and Minster Primary School. The family finally arrived at St. Nicholas, Down Barton Road, where he finished schooling at the age of 14.
On leaving school, which he freely admitted was not his forté, he joined his father in farming. Farming was in his blood. In tracing the family history, I have discovered agricultural labourers at almost every step, with generations traversing East Kent back to the late 1500’s.

Having been laid off farm work by Colonel Tapp one year due to bad weather, at the age of 24 he joined Kent River Board and aided in the construction of the Reculver sea wall defences after the 1953 floods. There is even British Pathé News film footage of him and his colleagues at work during the construction available on the internet.
In 1954, he entered National Service with the Buffs, and on his return re-entered farm work.

In 1968, whilst on a pub crawl with his mates, he ended up at the Five Bells at Eastry, where he met his wife and fell in love. They married, started a family and remained in St. Nicholas for 25 years until his retirement from Linnington Farms in 1994, when he moved to Westgate.

He preferred to be called Joe, since his father was Ernest too. They became known by some as “Big Ern” and “Little Ern”, but he became known to many as “Lofty”, since he was tall and his brother Geoff, or “Tich”, the short one. Some might have known him as “Cauliflower Joe”, since he was often found in his trade-mark rolled-up shirtsleeves and cap, cutting cauliflowers with his fellow workers in the fields, or driving his tractor bailing straw. His children often visited him there.
Joe didn’t suffer fools gladly, but if you became a friend it was generally for life.

Tragically losing his sister, Dorothy CHRISTIAN (nee BALDOCK) abruptly three months ago on 17 March 2014, and himself succumbing to long-term ill-health, his cast-iron constitution finally had to give in, and he passed away calmly on 28 May 2014 in Kent and Canterbury Hospital in the company of his wife and two children, Stephen and Lisa.

A genuine, hard-working, family man, and avid vegetable gardener until his retirement, he will be greatly missed by all friends and family.

He was laid to rest in the cemetery of St. Nicholas-At-Wade, after a wonderfully packed church service, on 18th June 2014. The family would like to extend thanks to all those who attended and whom we did not get to thank personally.

]]>1Steve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=10482014-08-21T11:39:43Z2014-02-05T15:41:17ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: Familysearch vs. Tolkien.
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One domain to rule them all, One domain to find them, One domain to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mormon where the servers lie … So, Familysearch wants to put all the world’s historical records online in one generation, do they? From a personal point of view, […]

Much has been posted online recently regarding the increasing “collaboration” between Familysearch and other providers, such as Ancestry.com, FindMyPast, MyHeritage, BillionGraves etc. And much has been said in the past regarding accuracy of online data. Don’t get me wrong, I was only too pleased six years ago to have access to online data through such providers, and made great steps in a very short time provisionally traversing my direct paternal lineage through to the mid-sixteenth century of Kent, England. However, I was also fortunate enough to have lived there most of my life, and found it very easy to access paper records at the former Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone, or at Canterbury Cathedral Archives, to verify the data which was being presented to me. Of course, I also have good knowledge of the Kent place names and surnames which were represented. As such, I often find myself adding ‘alternate’ (read ‘corrected’) names or places to Ancestry transcriptions, and reporting faults on transcriptions at FindMyPast.

However, what about colleagues in the USA, or Europe, or Australasia, who may not have such knowledge and take what is presented to them as a true reflection of the original.

I recently located an Ancestry tree containing an ancestor who appeared to have (incorrectly) married his own mother, and consequently had an incorrect list of children and siblings attributed against them. Having spoken to the tree owner, it turns out this was as the result of merging trees and/or data.

We have recently been told that Ancestry have been concentrating a lot on overhauling the software which sits ‘behind the scenes’, some of which no longer suits today’s data or user demands. I think that a concerted effort should be undertaken to semi-automate data checking to stop such obvious mistakes happening. I know that the Merge wizard in Family Tree Maker had such checks. I have not used FTM for a while, and frankly I have now decided to maintain my master set of data on my own blog, and will not be updating my Ancestry tree (which is now 3 years out of date) or any other online presence.

I know I will miss out on ‘hints’ via Ancestry – well, hey, I’ll just check things manually. My tree is now large enough that I would probably not keep up with the hints, anyway. That way, I can focus my research, and if any of that research develops in error it won’t propagate to everyone else’s trees in 10 milliseconds !! There will only be me to blame.

My opinion is controversial, I know, especially when I have made use of data shared on these sites by others. Yet I too have spent time researching and value the effort and accuracy of my data, and welcome any comments to correct innocent mistakes on my part. In this way, I feel my research is more than a data-mining exercise, and benefits from accuracy and local knowledge.

When websites such as those above accept transcriptions and pass them through their ‘checking’ process, are they simply accepting a concensus of opinion as to what a scribble represents, or are they calling upon volunteers with more local knowledge to provide a more weighted contribution. I doubt contributors outside of Kent would have been able to decypher a parish record containing the signature of minister A Egerton-Brydges (Anthony) I recently discovered – my local knowledge certainly helped on that one (and others!)

Accuracy of data must start rising up the priority list of genealogy data providers, in my opinion.

Otherwise we will find we are all next in line to the English throne and Jesus is our nephew!

I have known about William BALDOCK the smuggler for quite a while now, and often wondered if and how he might fit into my research. I had also recently come across William Henry BALDOCK, High Sheriff of Kent (1800s). I knew that the smuggler died in 1812, leaving an estate valued around £1.1m ! Was […]

I have known about William BALDOCK the smuggler for quite a while now, and often wondered if and how he might fit into my research. I had also recently come across William Henry BALDOCK, High Sheriff of Kent (1800s).
I knew that the smuggler died in 1812, leaving an estate valued around £1.1m ! Was he also the same William BALDOCK who had bought much land and property in Canterbury and other areas of Kent? I had also learned that ‘his nephew’ was rather conveniently the coastal Riding Officer.
Was he related to William Henry? They certainly both appear to have been from or lived in Petham.
I had discovered that William Henry BALDOCK had married Elizabeth DELMAR on 8 Feb 1814 at St. Margaret’s, Canterbury, but could not confirm his parents.
Was William Henry BALDOCK also the same William BALDOCK mentioned as a banker of Petham House, Petham, Kent in an obituary of a New Zealand newspaper (The Grey River Argus, Tuesday October 30th 1883) concerning the death of the latter’s great-great niece and nephew, Julia Alice HARDS and Joseph Baldock HARDS! The obituary also mentioned a relationship to Richard Robinson, 1st Lord Rokeby! The same banker (and other relationships) were also mentioned in the obituary of Baldock BUTCHER in the Sydney Morning Herald of Sep 8th, 1883.

And which William is the one represented in the painting ‘William Baldock of Petham, near Canterbury’ by T. Dinsdale, held in the collections of Canterbury City Council Museums and Galleries?

William BALDOCK of Petham, near Canterbury, by T Dinsdale (painting)(c) Canterbury City Council Museums and Galleries

In August 2009, a year or so after I started my genealogy research proper, I visited the Society of Genealogists in London to investigate their holding of a BALDOCK (of Elham) pedigree roll. It transpired that, at the time, I did not have any record of the names mentioned, so I copied down the family tree contained on the roll and filed it.
This week I located the tree, had a look and there they were – Richard Hobday BALDOCK, William BALDOCK (d. 1812) and William Henry BALDOCK (High Sheriff 1818, and partner in the Union Bank, Canterbury), all linked to the Elham tree! It turns out that Richard Hobday and William Henry were brothers, and both nephews of William the smuggler! Their parents were Richard BALDOCK and Mary HOBDAY.

William the smuggler was know to have at least one boat, and no doubt used his regular trips round the coast to London to hide his smuggling activities. Wallace Harvey also wrote a book called “Whitstable and the French Prisoners of War” (1971), and this will be another purchase soon.
The inland smuggling route included Lenham where, along with Pluckley, Charing and Egerton, many of BALDOCK ancestors may be found. Were other relatives of his in the area also involved? I would add that I have not yet linked my ancestors from this area to William the smuggler.

Sources variously claim William’s early life was as a cowherd, or hairdresser’s boy; his father appears to have been a bricklayer. Hence, my choice of the word ‘labourer’.

During the Christmas break, I had also managed to just miss out (by £1 !!) on an ebay auction item consisting of a 1794 indenture of property sale concerning William BALDOCK the smuggler. How gutted was I?!

A recent conversation with a local professional genealogist said I’d done well to link up my research after only five years. He’s got some that’s lasted around twenty!

A brief investigation regarding any link to Lord Rokeby has turned up nothing yet, although some descendants show up in Canterbury.

I now need to check and combine information in the trees with my own research, and look forward to growing my tree further!

]]>0Steve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=10272013-12-02T14:05:44Z2013-12-02T14:01:32ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: A family affair.
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Whilst perusing through the parish registers for Stalisfield this weekend, I came across an unusual entry: It says ‘William the Son of Thomas BOLDUC by Esther KINGSLAND his wifes daughter, his wife being then alive‘. William was baptised 23 Dec 1753 in Stalisfield, Kent. A quick check through my records would indicate that I probably […]

]]>The original post for this feed can be found here: A family affair.
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Whilst perusing through the parish registers for Stalisfield this weekend, I came across an unusual entry:

William’s father was also his step-grandfather!

It says ‘William the Son of Thomas BOLDUC by Esther KINGSLAND his wifes daughter, his wife being then alive‘. William was baptised 23 Dec 1753 in Stalisfield, Kent.

A quick check through my records would indicate that I probably don’t have this Thomas (although his birthdate needs further research). The wife mentioned was Mary ELLETT who married John KINGSLAND on 6 Oct 1710 in Throwley, three and a half miles away. Esther (Hester) was baptised 21 Jun 1719 in Throwley. Mary married Thomas on 30 Sep 1747 in Throwley.

Therefore, Esther was probably around thirty-four when she gave birth to William, whose father was her own step-father.

I will probably never find out whether this family affair was desired by both parties, or indeed accepted by the family. I have not yet determined what happened to Thomas’s marriage thereafter. The fact that the parentage is mentioned in parish registers, even that of one over three miles away, would hint that they did not feel shame in admitting it, or that the knowledge was known outside the family.

Social historians would no doubt be able to indicate the commonality of such a union. I guess today we would judge by their appearance on the Jeremy Kyle or Jerry Springer shows!

]]>0Steve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=10122013-08-10T12:56:23Z2013-08-10T12:56:23ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: Arthur Edward FAGG – cricketer.
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Quite a while ago now I came across the name of Arthur Edward FAGG who played cricket for Kent and England. One always wonders, of course, if and how such namesakes may be related. This week, I came back to this research, and did indeed determine a link to my tree. Arthur is my 4th […]

Quite a while ago now I came across the name of Arthur Edward FAGG who played cricket for Kent and England.

One always wonders, of course, if and how such namesakes may be related.

Arthur Edward FAGG (1915-1977) – Kent & England cricketer

This week, I came back to this research, and did indeed determine a link to my tree. Arthur is my 4th cousin once removed, our common ancestors being my 4xgreat grandparents, Thomas BALDOCK and Ann DAWKINS.

The highlight of Arthur’s career is surely his achieving two double-centuries in a single first class cricket match, a record I believe stands to this day.
On 15 July 1938, whilst playing for Kent against Essex at Colchester, Arthur achieved 202 not out in his second innings, adding to his first innings total of 244.
During the 1936-7 Ashes series, he had contracted a serious bout of rheumatic fever, from which he never fully recovered. Despite a short Test Match career, he continued playing County cricket until the mid-1950s. He then became an umpire, and hit the headlines again in 1973 at Edgbaston by refusing to rejoin the field after the West Indies disputed one of his decisions!

]]>0Steve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=9992013-06-27T11:49:50Z2013-06-27T11:44:04ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: CASTLE corrections and collections.
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This last week has been filled with the distractions of another CASTLE line, the result of an accident … Whilst browsing the Chartham parish registers on FindMyPast, I came across the marriage of my great-great-uncle, Stephen Leonard CASTLE, to a Minnie Harriet CASTLE (daughter of Francis CASTLE). The latter two individuals were new to me, […]

This last week has been filled with the distractions of another CASTLE line, the result of an accident …

Whilst browsing the Chartham parish registers on FindMyPast, I came across the marriage of my great-great-uncle, Stephen Leonard CASTLE, to a Minnie Harriet CASTLE (daughter of Francis CASTLE). The latter two individuals were new to me, and the marriage was ‘off-parish’ from where I expected. So, I started tracing Minnie’s line, suspecting a cousin relationship.

A can of worms started to open, resulting in multiple marriages, multiple occurrences of the name Francis, a major correction to my direct ancestry, and discovered errors in others’ online Ancestry trees!

You see, I have a death certificate for a Daniel CASTLE, who I believed to be my great-great-great grandfather. The certificate had margin corrections informed by Mary Ann CROUCHER, daughter. So naturally, I added her into the tree. What I had not taken care to notice is that she was born around 1835 (from 1861 Census), 15 years before my Daniel’s marriage to Eliza PAY, who would only have been 8 years old!

A search for ‘Daniel Castle’ between 1810 and 1820 on FamilySearch reveals FOUR births, none of them mine, and all in close vicinity within the Elham or Bridge registration districts!

As such, I have now traced Minnie’s line back to Richard CASTLE and Thomasin NEAMES, but got no further back on my direct line. I have not yet linked the two. Although, rather than my Daniel having died in 1898 (as believed from the certificate), I think he may have died in 1891. I need to get this certificate to confirm.

So, I now have three CASTLE lines on the go. A careful and messy spell of research awaits, and it probably involves good old pen and paper!

Take heed all those who are using CASTLE trees from Ancestry around the Stelling, Lower/Upper Hardres and Petham parishes. They probably contain mistakes!

]]>0Steve Baldockhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.ukhttp://baldockfaggfamily.org.uk/?p=9912013-05-08T11:29:03Z2013-05-08T11:29:03ZThe original post for this feed can be found here: Helpful minister provides maiden names in register.
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Whilst searching for some maternal ancestors today, I had recourse to look at the parish register of baptisms for Elham, Kent, on the Find My Past site. In order to ensure he was compliant with the law, the minister(s) started the particular register by including the mother’s maiden or previous name alongside that of the […]

Whilst searching for some maternal ancestors today, I had recourse to look at the parish register of baptisms for Elham, Kent, on the Find My Past site.

In order to ensure he was compliant with the law, the minister(s) started the particular register by including the mother’s maiden or previous name alongside that of the father, even if both parents were married! Unfortunately for us, the practice did not continue through the register!

I was taken by surprise today when I wanted to browse the Canterbury Cathedral Collection at Find My Past – it took me to a search page! Yes, finally we appear to have searchable indexes of these Kent records – and just in time for Who Do You Think You Are LIVE! this weekend. Apt […]